AES (NYSE:AES) Trading 5.1% Higher - What's Next?

The AES Co. (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 5.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.44 and last traded at $11.43. Approximately 3,130,089 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 15,698,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AES. Mizuho lowered their price objective on AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America raised AES from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. HSBC began coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.30.

AES Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50-day moving average is $11.32 and its 200 day moving average is $14.29.

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AES (NYSE:AES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. AES had a return on equity of 27.30% and a net margin of 8.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AES Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AES's payout ratio is 29.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AES

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AES. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AES during the third quarter worth about $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in AES by 190.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in AES by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 2,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of AES by 760.4% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 2,958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.13% of the company's stock.

AES Company Profile

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market.